Lactones having a hydroxyl group are useful compounds as materials for photosensitive resins and other functional polymers and as materials for pharmaceutical drugs, agricultural chemicals, and other fine chemicals.
Certain processes for producing lactones having a hydroxy group have been proposed. For example, Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 142 (1999), 333–338 proposes a process for producing a hydroxylactone in which a β,γ-unsaturated carboxylic acid, a γ,δ-unsaturated carboxylic acid, or a δ,ε-unsaturated carboxylic acid is allowed to react with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of methyltrioxorhenium and thereby yields a corresponding hydroxylactone. This process requires the use of expensive and toxic rhenium and is not industrially advantageous.